Apparatus, method and article for a dual-program display

ABSTRACT

A system for enabling two different users to independently view and listen to two completely different programs on the same display at the same time is provided. A user wears eyeglasses with filters to filter out light from the program which the user does not want to view, while allowing the light from the program the user does want to view to be seen by the user. Successive frames of a first program are displayed using light polarized in one direction in an alternating manner with frames of a second program using light polarized in another direction. A first user wears glasses with lenses configured to filter out the light from the second program while a second user wears glasses to filter out the light from the first program. Thus, while wearing the glasses, the first user can see the first program while watching the display, but not the second program. Simultaneously, while wearing the other glasses, the second user will see the second program, but not the first program.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to displaying video or motionpictures, and more particularly to displaying video or motion picturesto multiple users.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one example embodiment, the system enables two different users toindependently view and listen to two completely different programs onthe same display at the same time, using the entire or substantially theentire display for each of the two different programs. A user wearseyeglasses with filters to filter out light from the program which theydo not want to view, while allowing the light from the program they dowant to view to be seen by the user. Successive frames of a firstprogram are displayed using light polarized in one direction in analternating manner with frames of a second program using light polarizedin another direction so that it appears, to the unaided human eye, thatboth programs are being displayed simultaneously in the same area on thesame display. A first user wears glasses with lenses configured tofilter out the light from the second program while a second user wearsglasses to filter out the light from the first program. Thus, whilewearing the glasses, the first user can see the first program whilewatching the display, but not the second program. Simultaneously, whilewearing the other glasses, the second user will see the second program,but not the first program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elementsor acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawingsare not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of variouselements and angles are not drawn to scale, and some of these elementsare enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility andunderstanding of the features. Further, the particular shapes of theelements as drawn are not intended to convey any information regardingthe actual shape of the particular elements, and have been solelyselected for ease of recognition in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for a dual-program display, according toone non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system for a dual-program display showing twoinstances of a screen refresh of the display, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view of lenses of a first pair ofglasses of the system for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top cross-sectional view of lenses of a second pair ofglasses of the system for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an example display control unit of thesystem for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, accordingto one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method of operating the system for adual-program display shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a method that may be included as partof the displaying step of the method shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2,according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures associated with polarized filters,generating images using polarized light, three dimensional (3D)television and film systems, passive polarized filtered glasses andpassive and active liquid crystal glasses have not been shown ordescribed in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of theembodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense that is as “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

The use of ordinals such as first, second and third does not necessarilyimply a ranked sense of order, but rather may only distinguish betweenmultiple instances of an act or structure.

The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are forconvenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of theembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for a dual-program display according toone non-limiting illustrated embodiment. Systems, processes andtechniques are provided to allow two different users to independentlyview and listen to two completely different programs on the same display114 at the same time, using the entire or substantially the entiredisplay 114 for each of two different programs 120, 122. A display 114may include, but is not limited to: a television display, a monitordisplay, an interlaced video display, a non-interlaced video display,phase alternate line (PAL) display, National Television System Committee(NTSC) systems display, a progressive scan display, a plasma display, aliquid crystal display (LCD) display, a cathode ray tube (CRT) displayand various High Definition (HD) displays, an IMAX™ screen, a moviescreen, a projector screen, etc.

In one embodiment, a user wears eyeglasses (e.g., glasses 104 a orglasses 104 b) to filter out light from the program which they do notwant to view, while allowing the light from the program they do want toview to be seen by the user. For example, presentation device 112 isdisplaying a first program 120 and a second program 122 simultaneously,or nearly simultaneously. In one example embodiment, this is performedby the presentation device 112 alternating the displaying of successiveframes of program 120 with successive frames of program 122 each timethe display 114 refreshes (shown in more detail in conjunction with FIG.2 below) or at an even higher frequency in other types of displays. Thesuccessive frames of program 120 are displayed using light polarized inone direction, while the frames of program 122 are displayed using lightpolarized in another direction. Thus, when a first user wears glasses104 a (with filtered lenses 110 a and 110 b both configured to filterout program 122), the first user only sees the successive frames ofprogram 120 and while a second user wears glasses 104 b (with filteredlenses 108 a and 108 b both configured to filter out program 120), thesecond user only sees the successive frames of program 122.

The different programs 120 and 122 may be displayed using differentlypolarized light using various technologies available related toprojecting or displaying two images that are otherwise traditionallyused for generating a three dimensional (3D) effect using twostereoscopic images. For example, in a projector system, glasses 104 ahave a horizontally polarized filter in both lenses 110 a and 110 b andglasses 104 b have a vertically polarized filter in both lenses 108 aand 108 b. A projector (not shown) of the presentation device 112 orpointed at the display 114 is used with two polarizers. In one exampleof such an embodiment, the presentation device 112 may comprise adisplay (e.g., a screen) 114 onto which images may be projected and,optionally, an audio system 116 for generating signals representingaudio. The frames of the first program 120 are projected through ahorizontal polarizer onto the display 114 and the frames of the secondprogram 122 are projected through a vertical polarizer onto the display114 in the sequence described above.

In other embodiments, glasses 104 a and 104 b are configured to filtercircularly polarized light instead. For example, glasses 104 a may havea filter in both lenses 110 a and 110 b to filter out clockwisecircularly polarized light and let through counter-clockwise circularlypolarized light, and glasses 104 b may have a filter in both lenses 108a and 108 b configured to filter out counter-clockwise circularlypolarized light and let through clockwise circularly polarized light. Insuch an embodiment, the frames of the first program 120 are projectedthrough a counter-clockwise circular polarizer onto the display 114 andthe frames of the second program 122 are projected through a clockwisecircular polarizer onto the display 114 in the sequence described above.In any event, the filters of the glasses 104 a and 104 b are configuredsuch that only light polarized in a way compatible with the respectivelenses of the glasses 104 a and 104 b is allowed through the respectivelenses. As a result of this, the first user wearing glasses 104 aperceives only the set of images of the first program 120 while thesecond user wearing glasses 104 b simultaneously perceives only the setof images of the second program 122.

In other embodiments, the display 114 of the presentation device 112(e.g., a television screen) is coated with a polarization film such as afilm pattern retarder to enable the user, when wearing glasses 104 a or104 b, to view only every other line on the display 114 by using lightpolarized in a particular manner for those lines. Which lines the usercan view thus depends on which of glasses 104 a or 104 b the user iswearing. For example, program 120 may be displayed using one set oflines of the display 114, while program 122 may be displayed using theother set of lines of the display 114. Thus, if a user is wearingglasses 104 a, the user can see program 120 while watching the display114, but not program 122. Simultaneously, another user may wear glasses104 b and will see program 122 on the display 114, but not program 120.

Another alternative embodiment uses active shutter glasses (e.g., activeliquid crystal shutter glasses), but does not require using polarizedlight or lenses for filtering polarized light. For example, glasses 104a and 104 b may be active liquid crystal shutter glasses. In thisexample embodiment, the active liquid crystal shutter glasses 104 a and104 b use active liquid crystal technology to block both lenses 110 aand 110 b of glasses 104 a while allowing light through both lenses 108a and 108 b of glasses 104 b. This is done in sequence with thepresentation device 112 alternating the displaying of successive framesof program 120 with successive frames of program 122 each time thedisplay 114 refreshes such that both lenses 110 a and 110 b of glasses104 a are blocked when the frames of program 122 are presented on thedisplay 114 and both lenses 108 a and 108 b of glasses 104 b are blockedwhen the frames of program 120 are presented on the display 114.

To do this, in this example embodiment, the glasses 104 a and 104 b, inaddition to the liquid crystal lenses, contain circuitry and wirelessreceivers 106 a and 106 b, respectively, and connected batteries (notshown) that synchronize to the presentation device 112 via an infraredor other radio frequency (RF) signal from the presentation device 112.This signal may be any suitable wireless or other signal forcommunication between the presentation device 112 and the glasses 104 aand 104 b. For example, the signal may be, but is not limited to, aninfrared signal, a radio frequency signal, a Digital Light ProcessingLink (DLP® Link) signal or a Bluetooth® signal, etc. Other embodimentsinclude any other configuration or combination of configurations thatallow synchronization between the glasses 104 a and 104 b and thepresentation device 112, including using an emitter from the glasses 104a and 104 b to the presentation device 112, a specific timing signalused by both the presentation device 112 and glasses 104 a and 104 b,etc. Thus, if a user is wearing glasses 104 a, the user can see program120 while watching the display 114, but not program 122. Simultaneously,another user may wear glasses 104 b and will see program 122 on thedisplay 114, but not program 120. Other technologies and systems forblocking out lenses of the glasses 104 a and 104 b in synchronizationwith the presentation device 112 may instead or also be used, such asmechanical shutter glasses and other types of active shutter glasses.

The presentation device transmits a first electrical signal 118 arepresenting audio associated with the first program 120 while alsotransmitting a second electrical signal 118 b representing audioassociated with the second program. Two sets of headphones 124 a and 124b are configured to receive the first electrical signal 118 a and secondelectrical signal 118 b, respectively. In this way, a user wearingglasses 104 a and headphones 124 a may both see and hear program 120without seeing or hearing program 122. Also, a user wearing glasses 104b and headphones 124 b may both see and hear program 122 without seeingor hearing program 120. In some alternative embodiments, the headphones124 a may be integrated with glasses 104 a and the headphones 124 b maybe integrated with glasses 104 b.

There may also be a user interface provided by the presentation device112 with which a user may interact to select which glasses 104 a and 104b and which headphones 124 a and 124 b are to be associated with whichprogram 120 and 122. As a result of this selection, the headphones maybe accordingly automatically configured to receive the associated audioof the selected program and the presentation device may display orproject the selected program accordingly. This automatic configurationmay be via a signal sent from the presentation device to the glasses 104a and 104 b, headphones 124 a and 124 b and/or other external devicesuch as a projector.

An electronic program guide (EPG) is generated by the presentationdevice 112 and may in some embodiments be integrated with the userinterface to select which glasses 104 a and 104 b and which headphones124 a and 124 b are to be associated with which program 120 and 122. TheEPG may be activated by a remote control device (not shown) or otherinput device coupled to or integrated with the presentation device byeither user of the display 114. Once activated, the EPG may be displayednormally such that it is visible through both glasses 104 a and 104 b,or alternatively, be visible through only one of glasses 104 a and 104b, while the other program continues to be visible through the pair ofglasses through which the EPG is not visible. For example, there may betwo remote control devices, each one associated with a different one ofprogram 120 or program 122, or one remote control device with differentselectable controls designated as associated with either program 120 orprogram 122 or with either glasses 104 a or 104 b. When a user selectsan EPG associated with one program currently being displayed or withglasses the user is currently using, the EPG is displayed in the samemanner as the program associated with the EPG selected or glasses beingused or otherwise chosen by the user (e.g., displayed using polarizedlight that is polarized differently than used to display the otherprogram currently being displayed) such that the user is enabled to viewthe EPG and change channels or select different programming while theother user is able to continue to watch the other program orindependently activate and view a different EPG associated with theother program.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system for a dual-program display showing twoinstances of a screen refresh of the display, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment. Example images are shown beingdisplayed for sequential refreshes (Refresh 1, Refresh 2) of the display114. The refresh rate (also referred to as the “vertical refresh rate”or “vertical scan rate” for cathode ray tube devices) is the number oftimes in a second that display hardware draws the image data. This isdistinct from the measure of frame rate of video in that the refreshrate may include the repeated drawing of identical frames, while framerate measures how often a video source can feed an entire frame of newdata to a display.

As shown, at Refresh 1 on display 114 a frame of program 120 isdisplayed using light polarized in a first direction. For example, thismay be a frame projected onto the display 114, or generated on thedisplay 114 using various display technologies of the presentationdevice 112 including, but not limited to, interlaced and non-interlacedsystems, phase alternate line (PAL), National Television SystemCommittee (NTSC) systems, progressive scan systems, plasma systems,liquid crystal display (LCD) systems, cathode ray tube (CRT) systems andvarious High Definition (HD) systems, etc., in conjunction with apolarization film such as a film pattern retarder on the display 114.

At Refresh 1, a user wearing glasses 104 a is able to see the frame ofprogram 120, but a user wearing glasses 104 b is not able to see theframe of program 120 because both the lenses 108 a and 108 b filter outthe light of the frame of program 1. At Refresh 2 on display 114 a frameof program 122 is displayed using light polarized in a second directiondifferent than the direction of the polarization of light that was usedto display the frame of program 120 at Refresh 1. At Refresh 2, a userwearing glasses 104 b is able to see the frame of program 122, but auser wearing glasses 104 a is not able to see the frame of program 122because both the lenses 110 a and 110 b filter out the light of theframe of program 122.

The process then repeats 126 displaying successive frames in analternating manner of program 120 and program 122 with each refresh ofthe display 114. Thus, if a user is wearing glasses 104 a, the user cansee program 120 while watching the display 114, but not program 122.Simultaneously, another user may wear glasses 104 b and will see program122 on the display 114, but not program 120.

FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view of lenses 110 a and 110 b ofglasses 104 a of the system for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1and FIG. 2, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment. FIG. 3shows that red-green-blue (RGB) light from the display 114 (shown inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2) enters the lenses 110 a and 110 b, and passivefilters of the lenses 110 a and 110 b allow light from program 120through the lens that is polarized in a first direction (Direction 1)while filtering out or blocking light from program 122 that is polarizedin a second direction (Direction 2).

FIG. 4 is a top cross-sectional view of lenses 108 a and 108 b ofglasses 104 b of the system for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1and FIG. 2, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment. FIG. 4shows that red-green-blue (RGB) light from the display 114 (shown inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2) enters the lenses 108 a and 108 b, and passivefilters of the lenses 108 a and 108 b allow light from program 122through the lens that is polarized in the second direction (Direction 2)while filtering out or blocking light from program 120 that is polarizedin the first direction (Direction 1). Thus, if a user is wearing glasses104 a, the user can see program 120 while watching the display 114, butnot program 122. Simultaneously, another user may wear glasses 104 b andwill see program 122 on the display 114, but not program 120.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an example display control unit 116 of thesystem for a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, accordingto one non-limiting illustrated embodiment. The controller 524 of thedisplay control unit 116 may be a microprocessor, microcontroller,programmable logic controller (PLC), programmable gate array (PGA),application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or another controllercapable of sending signals to various outputs (including the controloutput components 526), performing logical operations, and sendingsignals to various other components. Typically, the controller 524 maytake the form of a microprocessor (e.g., INTEL, AMD, ATOM). As shown,the display control unit 116 may also include one or more non-transitoryprocessor- or computer-readable storage media, for example read only ROM518 and RAM 520. The non-transitory processor- or computer-readablestorage media 518 and 520 may be in addition to any non-transitorystorage medium (e.g., registers) which is part of the controller 524. Asshown, the display control unit 116 may also include one or more buses530 (only one illustrated) coupling various components together, forexample one or more power buses, instruction buses, data buses, etc.

As illustrated, the ROM 518 and RAM 520 store instructions and/or dataor values for variables or parameters. The sets of data may take avariety of forms, for example a lookup table, a set of records in adatabase, etc. The instructions and sets of data or values areexecutable by the controller 524. Execution of such causes thecontroller 524 to perform specific acts to cause the generating andtransmitting of a first electrical signal representing audio associatedwith the first program and transmitting of a second electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the second program. In someembodiments, the first electrical signal and second electrical signalare encoded individually into one signal. Also, one or both of the firstelectrical signal and the second electrical signal may be a wirelesssignal. Execution of instructions by the controller 524 also causes thecontroller 524 to perform specific acts to cause the presentation device112 to display or a projector to project alternating successive framesof program 120 and program 122 each time the display refreshes and insynchronization with the display refreshes. Specific operation of thedisplaying or projecting alternating successive frames of program 120and program 122 is described above and further below with reference tovarious flow diagrams (FIG. 6 and FIG. 7).

The controller 524 may use RAM 520 in a conventional fashion, forvolatile storage of instructions, data, etc. The controller 524 maystore data corresponding to the particular configurations of the filteror filters used by the active glasses 104 a and 104 b and may also storeconfiguration data related to the display 114, the codec of the graphicsengine 522, the refresh rate of the display 114, the format of the videobeing displayed, configuration data of an external projector, activeglasses control units 106 a and 106 b, audio data or signals associatedwith program 120 and 122, etc. The graphics engine 522 includes graphicscircuitry and/or instructions stored on a computer readable medium toencode/decode or otherwise generate digital video for display on thedisplay 114 in the manners described herein. For example, the graphicsengine 522 generates the video of programs 120 and 122 and also theelectronic program guide (EPG) for display on the display 114 and worksin conjunction with the controller for displaying of the frames of videofor programs 120 and 122 in synchronization with the refresh of thedisplay 114 as described above. The graphics engine 522 may include anumber of sub-components responsible for generating particular elementsof the video for display such as an EPG associated with program 120 or122 and glasses 104 a and 104 b.

The instructions are executable by the controller 524 to controldisplaying a frame of the first program followed by displaying a frameof the second program, displaying a successive frame of the firstprogram followed by displaying a successive frame of the second program,and repeating the displaying the successive frames to display the firstprogram and to display the second program on the same display 114.

The control output components 526 are configured to the control thetransmitting of the first electrical signal representing audioassociated with the program 120 and transmitting of a second electricalsignal representing audio associated with the program 122 at any giventime and, in some embodiments, to also send control signals to bereceived by wireless receivers 106 a and 106 b, of glasses 104 a and 104b, respectively, shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 to synchronize them with thepresentation device 112 in the manner discussed above. For example theoutput components 526 may be those configured to send signals including,but not limited to, one or more of: infrared signals, radio frequency(RF) signals, (Digital Light Processing) Link (DLP® Link) signals andBluetooth® signals.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method 600 of operating the systemfor a dual-program display shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment. For example, the methods describedbelow may be those which are executed by the display control unit 116shown in FIG. 5.

At 602, the presentation device 112 displays at least a portion of afirst program using light polarized in a first direction.

At 604, the presentation device 112 displays at least a portion of asecond program different from the first program on the same displayusing light polarized in a second direction, such that the displayingappears to occur simultaneously.

At 606, the presentation device 112 transmits a first electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the first program.

At 608, the presentation device 112 transmits a second electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the second program. This displayingof the first and second program (e.g., program 120 and 122) is such thatat least the portion of the first program is enabled to be viewed by afirst user from the same display without the first user seeing thesecond program by use of a first pair of polarized glasses by the firstuser. This occurs while at least the portion of the second program isenabled to be simultaneously viewed by a second user from the samedisplay without the second viewer seeing the first program by use of asecond pair of polarized glasses by the second user that are polarizeddifferently than the first pair of polarized glasses.

The displaying of the first program and the displaying of the secondprogram may, in some embodiments, include combining two separate videosignals into one video signal for display of the first program and thesecond program simultaneously and independently of each other on thesame display. For example, this may be accomplished by using alternatinglines of the display for the first program and the second program andmay be executed by the graphics engine 522 of the display control unit116 shown in FIG. 5. The graphics engine 522 may perform this byencoding pairs of digital video frames into one frame for each pair. Afirst video frame of each of the pairs represented by the first of thetwo separate video signals and a second video frame of each of the pairsof video frames is represented by the second of the two separate videosignals.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a method 700 that may be included instep 604 of method 600 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

At 702, the presentation device 112 displays a frame of the firstprogram using light polarized in a first direction followed bydisplaying a frame of the second program using light polarized in asecond direction.

At 704, the presentation device 112 displays a successive frame of thefirst program using light polarized in a first direction followed bydisplaying a successive frame of the second program using lightpolarized in a second direction. Thus, referring again to FIG. 1 andFIG. 2, if a user is wearing glasses 104 a, the user can see program 120while watching the display 114, but not program 122. Simultaneously,another user may wear glasses 104 b and will see program 122 on thedisplay 114, but not program 120.

The various methods described herein may include additional acts, omitsome acts, and/or may perform the acts in a different order than set outin the various flow diagrams.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, schematics,and examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, schematics, and examplescontain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that each function and/or operation withinsuch block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, thepresent subject matter may be implemented via one or moremicrocontrollers. However, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can beequivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits (e.g.,Application Specific Integrated Circuits or ASICs), as one or morecomputer programs executed by one or more computers (e.g., as one ormore programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or moreprograms executed by on one or more controllers (e.g., microcontrollers)as one or more programs executed by one or more processors (e.g.,microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof,and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for thesoftware and/or firmware would be well within the skill of one ofordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings of this disclosure.

When logic is implemented as software and stored in memory, logic orinformation can be stored on any non-transitory computer-readable mediumfor use by or in connection with any processor-related system or method.In the context of this disclosure, a memory is a nontransitory computer-or processor-readable storage medium that is an electronic, magnetic,optical, or other physical device or means that non-transitorilycontains or stores a computer and/or processor program. Logic and/or theinformation can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, orother system that can fetch the instructions from the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructionsassociated with logic and/or information.

In the context of this specification, a “computer-readable medium” canbe any physical element that can store the program associated with logicand/or information for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, and/or device. The computer-readable mediumcan be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatusor device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette (magnetic, compact flash card, secure digital, or thelike), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory),a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), and digital tape.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ systems, circuits and concepts of the variouspatents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

The above description of illustrated embodiments, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Although specificembodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes,various equivalent modifications can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure, as will be recognized by thoseskilled in the relevant art.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

I claim:
 1. A method of displaying dual programs on a same display, themethod comprising: displaying on the display during a first timeinterval, a frame of a first program using light polarized in a firstpolarization direction; displaying on the display during a second timeinterval, a frame of a second program, different from the first program,using light polarized in a second polarization direction, such that thedisplaying the frame of the first program and the displaying the frameof the second program appears to an unaided human eye to occursimultaneously and independently on the same display; continuing todisplay successive frames of the first and second programs in atime-alternating manner on the same display, such that the first programis enabled to be viewed by a first user, without the first user seeingthe second program, through a first pair of polarized glasses, while thesecond program is enable to be simultaneously viewed by a second userfrom the same display, without the second viewer seeing the firstprogram, through a second pair of polarized glasses that are polarizeddifferently than the first pair of polarized glasses; transmitting afirst electrical signal representing audio associated with the firstprogram; and transmitting a second electrical signal representing audioassociated with the second program.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein atleast one of the first electrical signal and the second electricalsignal is a wireless signal.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the firstand second time intervals correspond to first and second screen refreshrates.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein each frame is a frame of a film.5. The method of claim 1 wherein each frame is a frame of a digitalvideo stream.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein a first of two separatevideo signals represents the first program and a second of two separatevideo signals represents the second program, and the combining the twoseparate video signals includes encoding pairs of digital video framesinto one frame for each pair, a first video frame of each of the pairsrepresented by the first of the two separate video signals and a secondvideo frame of each of the pairs of video frames represented by thesecond of the two separate video signals.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein the first polarization direction is a first circular directionand the second polarization direction is second circular direction,opposite the first circular direction.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereinthe first program and second program are video programs.
 9. The methodof claim 1 wherein the same display is a movie screen.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the displaying at least the portion of the first programand the displaying at least the portion of the second program is on thesame display and wherein the same display is a digital video display.11. The method of claim 1 wherein each frame is a frame of a televisionbroadcast.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first polarizationdirection is linear, and the second direction is linear and orthogonalto the first polarization direction.
 13. A system for displaying dualprograms on a same display at the same time comprising: a memory; and atleast one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to: display on the display a first program usinglight polarized in a first polarization direction; and display a secondprogram different from the first program on the same display on whichthe first program is displayed using light polarized in a secondpolarization direction, such that the displaying the first program andthe displaying the second program would at least appear to occur, by anunaided human eye, simultaneously and independently on the same display,wherein the displaying the first program and the displaying the secondprogram includes: displaying a frame of the first program followed bydisplaying a frame of the second program; displaying a successive frameof the first program followed by displaying a successive frame of thesecond program; and continuing to display successive frames of the firstprogram and the second program in a time-alternating manner on the samedisplay, such that the first program is enabled to be viewed by a firstuser, without the first user seeing the second program, through a firstpair of polarized glasses, while the second program is enable to besimultaneously viewed by a second user from the same display, withoutthe second viewer seeing the first program, through a second pair ofpolarized glasses that are polarized differently than the first pair ofpolarized glasses.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: transmit a first electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the first program; and transmit asecond electrical signal representing audio associated with the secondprogram.
 15. The system of claim 13, further comprising the first pairof polarized glasses and the second pair of polarized glasses.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, further comprising: a first pair of headphonesconfigured to selectively wirelessly receive the first electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the first program or the secondelectrical signal representing audio associated with the first program;and a second pair of headphones configured to selectively wirelesslyreceive the first electrical signal representing audio associated withthe first program or the second electrical signal representing audioassociated with the first program.
 17. The system of claim 16 whereinthe first pair of headphones is configured to wirelessly communicatewith the first pair of glasses and receive a control signal from thefirst pair of glasses to select to receive the first electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the first program.
 18. The system ofclaim 15 wherein the first pair of polarized glasses has integratedheadphones configured to wirelessly receive the first electrical signalrepresenting audio associated with the first program and wherein thesecond pair of polarized glasses has integrated headphones configured towirelessly receive the second electrical signal representing audioassociated with the second program.
 19. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising the same display coupled to the at least one processor.
 20. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computerexecutable instructions thereon, that when executed by a computerprocessor, cause the following method to be performed: displaying on adisplay during a first time interval, a frame of a first program usinglight polarized in a first polarization direction; displaying on thedisplay during a second time interval, a frame of a second differentprogram using light polarized in a second polarization direction, suchthat the first program is enabled to be viewed by a first user, withoutthe first user seeing the second program, through a first pair ofpolarized glasses, while the second program is enable to besimultaneously viewed by a second user from the same display, withoutthe second viewer seeing the first program, through a second pair ofpolarized glasses that are polarized differently than the first pair ofpolarized glasses, such that the displaying the frame of the firstprogram and the displaying the frame of the second program appears to anunaided human eye to occur simultaneously and independently on the samedisplay, wherein the displaying at least the portion of the firstprogram and the displaying at least the portion of the second programincludes: displaying a frame of the first program followed by displayinga frame of the second program; displaying a successive frame of thefirst program followed by displaying a successive frame of the secondprogram; and continuing to display successive frames of the firstprogram and the second program in a time-alternating manner on the samedisplay.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 20 wherein the computer executable instructions stored thereon,when executed by the computer processor, further cause the following tobe performed: receiving a signal to change the first program to a thirdprogram; displaying, in response to the receiving the signal, at least aportion of the third program instead of at least the portion of thefirst program using light polarized in a first polarization direction;and continuing to display at least the portion of the second differentprogram using light polarized in a second polarization direction on thedisplay.